KCC Here to Help Parents With Jobs Advice

Offer comes as new research reveals school teachers and parents are struggling to give appropriate careers guidance.

Parents and young people invited to “Get into Kensington and Chelsea College” and find out what it could do for them.

Kensington and Chelsea College is calling on parents to contact them for guidance on today’s job market and to find out more about the different routes into work available to their offspring. The recommendation comes as new, independent research by the Association of Colleges released today to mark Colleges Week (11-18 November), finds that school teachers and parents admit they are struggling to give the right advice to prepare young people for the world of work (1). The research finds:

One fifth of parents (20%) feel out of their depth advising their children about careers, whilst 32% say they only feel comfortable talking about jobs with which they are familiar.

Nearly one fifth (19%) of parents say they give their child the same jobs and careers advice they received from their parents.

Some parents readily admit their offspring are ill-prepared for work, with more than one in 10 (11%) confessing they wouldn’t even employ their own child.

44% of school teachers admit to giving a pupil bad or uninformed advice in the past.

82% of school teachers don’t feel they have the appropriate knowledge to advise pupils on careers.

72% of parents think education should be more focused on preparing young people for employment.

Indeed, 93% of school teachers and 94% of parents want pupils /their child to have more access to employers and businesses.

(1) Omnibus research of 777 parents of children aged 11-18 and 500 teachers of Key stages 3&4 in the UK. Research conducted online by ResearchBods from 10 to 22 October

The college is offering a free careers and courses information service for anyone struggling to get advice about courses and the different routes into work. The free advice service is offered in person, over the phone on 0207 573 5325 and via the colleges new online chat service, which can be used on smartphones. The online service can be accessed from the college’s website.

Luke Howson, Information, Advice and Guidance Officer at Kensington and Chelsea College said: “Access to good quality, useful, careers advice is essential in ensuring young people have all the information they need to make their career choices, which is why we have a dedicated careers advice service at the college. We’d urge parents and their children to come in and see us at the college if they are finding it hard to access advice about courses and careers. As a college we place great emphasis on employability which is why we have tutors with strong industry contacts that their students can utilize, and an entire department dedicated to building close links with employers so that our learners can find jobs more easily on completing their course.”

Colleges Week, now in its fifth year, is a national initiative that seeks to raise awareness of the vital role Colleges play in improving people’s chances of getting into work and helping businesses to grow. Working to a central theme of employability and work-readiness, activities will be held up and down the country to encourage people to ‘get into College’ and find out what it can do for them.